Asus RT-N56U weirdness

[FordGT90Concept]

This is a refurb router (received and installed on August 1) and the router before it was sent in to Asus for the exact same reason (it did it three times before I finally caved and sent it in).

What happens...

1. First I notice a total internet disconnection (Steam, Discord, XMPP disconnects). I think "whatever" because it is probably my ISP being flaky as usual.
2. It's been offline for a while. I try to access the router via HTTP and it gives me a 404. This is the point where I know it is the router.
3. Looking at the router at this point, the LAN ports are a freakin' light show. Pretty much all of them flash in unison. The top of the router is noticeably hot at this point. I used my LASER thermometer to check it: 118.7F was the peak detected with ambient temperature being 74F.
4. At this point I unplug it because it's not working and it is a good idea to let it cool down.
5. I plug it in again, could be minutes, could be hours, but usually it doesn't work even when cool to the touch. The light show occurs again and I still can't access HTTP. It takes numerous power cycles for it to come out of its funk.

I just looked at DD-WRT and Tomato and they don't appear to support the router. I don't particularly want to send it back again because the next will probably do the same.

From July 14 to August 1, I was using an ancient DI-804HV and it worked perfectly the entire time. That's longer than this router lasted...

In terms of network activity, nothing extraordinary happened that would have triggered the issue. If anything, network activity was to a minimum.

Network topography (roughly):

• Netopia 4331 ADSL gateway
• RT-N56U
  • Wired
    • Netgear 108GS
      • desktop
      • server
    • Netgear 105GS
      • Brother inkjet MFC
      • Brother laser printer
      • desktop
    • Netgear 105GS
      • Leelbox MXQ
      • Pioneer receiver
      • Dish Network ViP220k
      • wireless adapter for a weight scale
    • HDHomeRun
  • Wireless (at the time it occurred, probably)
    • Windows Phone
    • Windows Phone
    • Surface 2 RT

Any ideas?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

No ideas? Seriously?

I'm thinking about giving this router to my sister so she can use it as a wireless access point. Should I do that, any recommendations for a replacement router? External replaceable antennas are a must.

 

[FR@NK]

My opinion: consumer routers are all junk and dont last very long and arent very reliable. Well maybe not all of them but most of them. They are designed to be replaced after a year or two.

I've been using a business class router connected to a wireless controller that is then connected to multiple access points. I dont have problems anymore.

I picked this thing up from ebay for 200 bucks and it came with 4 access points; one for an air monitor and the others for channel 1,6,11. Its only 54mbs but has both 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

My gateway can handle DHCP so technically all I need is a switch, yes? I could change the RT-N56U into a wireless access point.

Would this be sufficient?
NETGEAR ProSAFE 16-Port Gigabit Smart Managed Switch (GS716T)

It has fiber uplink which I don't have. It would be connecting to the network via one of the RJ45 ports. Is that a problem?

Also, I may some day be replacing my ADSL gateway with a wireless internet device. I'm not sure if that device can do DHCP. Will this managed switch be able to assign IP addresses?

I'm thinking I need to find a different managed switch. My cables are mostly shielded CAT6 so they're fat with fat boots on them. This particular model doesn't have much space between ports.

 

[FR@NK]

It doesnt look like you need any more hardware if your "Netopia 4331 ADSL gateway" will function as a router. You already have 3 switches so just connect them together to your Netopia. Then if your asus RT-N56U has an access point mode enable it and you are good to go. But your RT-N56U will still have the same random shutdowns as it does now, but atleast it wont take down your whole network with it.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

That's what worries me: could a defective network switch (not the RT-N56U--one of the other ones) cause the router to seize up?

 

[Toothless]

Good thing we didn't try going ghost in Blacklist when your issues picked up.

"So if we drop dow- WELP TIME TO GO LOUD."

 

[remixedcat]

Figures it uses RA-Link/Mediatek and they are NOT stable.

Get yourself a UBNT ERL or other ER line. They have a GUI and CLI. Very nice. They use QCA or BCM chipsets that are much better

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I'm leaning towards Ubiquiti ER8 right now. You're gonna help me set it up, right?

My sister is in the market for a router as well. Thoughts on TP-Link Touch P5 and Archer C9?

 

[remixedcat]

Yeah I can help yah when yah need it it's not very hard tho

 

[FordGT90Concept]

What are your thoughts on doing this?

• UBNT ERL
  • gateway
  • RT-N56U acting as a switch and access point (subject to change in the future depending on how much of a dick it is)
  • 16-port unmanaged switch
    • Netgear GS108
    • Netgear GS105
    • Netgear GS105

Is that going to overload that unmanaged switch? It would be about $200 this way versus $300 for the ER8 and maybe a switch sometime down the road.

 

[remixedcat]

That asus might not be able to pass vlans if you don't flash the firmware..

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I don't intend to use VLANs.

 

[remixedcat]

you should be fine than if you go ERL>switch>Router (as AP mode)

 

[FordGT90Concept]

So place everything under the unmanaged switch except the gateway? Any recommendations for a 16-port gigabit switch?

FYI, the GS108 has the server and pretty much everything needs to be able to access it.

 

[remixedcat]

if you get ubiquiti it's best to stay all them since they have a sweet mgmt ui that can handle all of it

 

[FordGT90Concept]

They don't have unmanaged switches by the looks of it.

ERL + ES24 = $305.68
ER8 = $288.95

I'm thinking a 24-port switch is very overkill (more power consumption too). ER8 the better way to go? With ER8:

• UBNT ER8
  • gateway
  • RT-N56U acting as a switch and access point (subject to change in the future depending on how much of a dick it is)
  • Netgear GS108
  • Netgear GS105
  • Netgear GS105

Should the router be plugged into a UPS or is it electrically robust enough to handle power outages without being an hero?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I called Asus and basically they want me to call them back as it is happening. I think I'll put replacement plans on hold until then. I still haven't made up my mind on what I'm buying.

 

[remixedcat]

I'd connect to UPS so you got net access while power blinks or is out for a while